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In case you missed them, here are the top posts from April on the topics of Next Practices in Life, Business, and Commercial Real Estate.

I do want to invite you to subscribe to this blog just to the right of what you are reading now. This will make it so easy for you to get my new posts without having to remember to check my site. And I will never violate your privacy!

April’s Top Posts:

Make the dang call! via iStockphotot.com

The Anatomy of a Cold Call – While I don’t believe in scripts, I do believe in crafting your opening statement before you call. Most salespeople have the most problems with how they start the call. ”Uh, hi. My name is Bo Barron and I’m with ABC Co. Uh….how’s it going?” Terrible! Read more…

The first face to face!

The 5 Steps of the Initial Meeting – With some experience and some great coaching, I learned a better way. Remember, if you are following my system, this initial meeting should be short. Actually, you told the prospect that it would be short. If you connect and the prospect starts asking questions – great. You may be there 2 hours. However, you told them short. Prepare for short as you are making an impression as someone with integrity…or not. Read more…

Why Do We Fall? [Video] -This week I had the privilege of traveling to Salisbury, MD to visit SVN Miller Commercial. This group is the Sperry Van Ness 2012 Firm of the Year. They are a study in how to build a team with incredible culture. They like each other. They have tradition. They have camaraderie. They absolutely dominate their market.

I had the pleasure of training their entire company primarily on prospecting. At the end of our afternoon together, Brent Miller played this video. I was so moved that I wanted to share it with you.

Clarity Series – Prospecting – Summary & Conclusion – When I was 15, my dad hired me to clean out a concrete drainage ditch. That ditch ran behind the houses of a street he had developed. We agreed on a price and I started digging. I soon discovered that I could hire my friends at a rate higher than minimum wage. I made all the income when I did the work. I made half that amount when they did the work. Read more…

Thank you so much for reading. Towards the end of May, I will be introducing another Clarity Series on Presence. As always, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section.

Question: What is the single most important activity that drives your business? I challenge you to articulate and explain your answer in the comments below.

The Clarity Series (CS) is a series of posts all on one subject. This particular subject is prospecting. While the context is commercial real estate, these steps and principles can be applied to any sales. To read the introduction of this series, click here. To read an overview of the entire prospecting system, click here. Thank you for reading!

I was an Arabic Linguist in the Marine Corps. Those with my job specialty went one of two paths. They deployed in support of infantry units, or they were sent to a support battalion state-side. Those units did not deploy. I was placed on the second path.

My mom was thrilled as was my wife. I was not. I would volunteer for every deployment (they never sent me). I wanted to go and do the job.

I compare this to faithfully studying for a test. You have put in the work. You are ready. You know that you will come through when it matters at test-time. You are confident that you will ace it. But you never get to take the test. That is what it was like for me. I had put in the work and needed to take the test.

You have now landed a meeting to make a listing presentation (or whatever presentation applies to you). You have worked through the entire prospecting process to get to this point. Your put in the work becoming a market specialist. Building a database. Sending letters. Making cold calls. Conducting the needs analysis. It has all led to this moment. You sit in front of the prospect. The business is there for the taking. You have the privilege of potentially improving the life of the person in front of you.

What do you do?

Normal Listing Presentation

Before we get into what the winning listing presentation looks like, let discuss the industry standard.

The industry standard listing presentation is broker-centric and follows the sequence in the picture.

Bio – the broker talks about how awesome he is. The prospect gets to hear the bio, breadth of experience, etc.

Company – the broker then talks about the company. They have been serving their clients faithfully for 45 years, etc.

Buyer Lists – My database is bigger than anyone else’s. This is the claim that kills me. There is no way that any one firm knows all the potential buyers for the property. It is simply impossible. But this is the claim.

Advertising – Explanation is given to how the property will be marketed. They promise to pre-screen all buyers to not waste the prospects time, etc.

The property – Finally, the broker gets around to discussing something that effects the prospect – their property! The broker takes the seller through the underwriting and analysis.

Listing Agreement & Commission – Once the broker has made the case for how awesome she and the company are, and explained how they will produce the sure-fire buyer, they make the case for their fee and negotiate the listing agreement.

Note that the prospect must sit through a presentation that has little to do with them and everything to do about the broker and his/her company. Often, the prospect has 4 of these back to back in an afternoon. The last broker in should bring a six pack.

Winning Presentation

In contrast to the broker-centric presentation, the winning presentation is all about the prospect.

Start by connecting – You have already had the needs-analysis interview so you know what the main concerns and highest interests of the prospect are. Start there. Demonstrate that you were listening. Assure the prospect you have custom crafted your presentation to meet those needs. Discuss with the prospect your conclusions about the property and demonstrate how you got there.

Explain your action-plan – As your prospect has specific needs, explain how you are going to meet those needs. Think of all your capabilities as the proverbial toolbox. Which tools are you going to pull out and use together to accomplish the goals of your prospect.

I have, I am, and I will do – Now share with your prospect a deal story where you have accomplished a similar feat before. Use the “I have, I am, and I will do” method. I have accomplished this before. I am working to accomplish this right now with other clients. I will be able to do so again for you.

Close – Summarize the key points of your presentation. Emphasize your understanding of the prospect’s situation. Show how you custom solution will accomplish the prospect’s goals. Then ask for the business! Don’t forget to actually ask. Too many salespeople stop just before this point.

I realize that this is over-simplified. But what do you do to win the business? What are your key steps to a winning presentation? Share those thoughts in the comments section.

The Clarity Series is a series of posts all on one subject. This particular subject is prospecting. While the context is commercial real estate, these steps and principles can be applied to any sales. To read the introduction of this series, click here. To read an overview of the entire prospecting system, click here. Thank you for reading!

I would go into the meeting guns blazing about why me, why my company, and why now. It was all about me. I would give my canned listing presentation. I would use this on a 2 acre piece of raw land just like I would with an $8MM apartment complex. I cringe thinking about this.

With some experience and some great coaching, I learned a better way. Remember, if you are following my system, this initial meeting should be short. Actually, you told the prospect that it would be short. If you connect and the prospect starts asking questions – great. You may be there 2 hours. However, you told them short. Prepare for short as you are making an impression as someone with integrity…or not.

5 Steps of the Initial Meeting

Your purpose in this meeting is two-fold. First, you need to find out if there is a problem or an opportunity. Second, you want to leave with an appointment for a second, longer meeting. This second meeting is where you will make your proposal. Here is how to pull it off.

Ooze Gratitude and Excitement – Too many brokers or salespeople act too cool. If you have done your homework and worked the system, then you are sitting with someone who you want to do business with. You are sitting across from someone who you have pursued. Don’t act like you could care less. Show the prospect that you are excited. Let them know that you are thankful they have given you some time. Gratitude and manners go a long way. “Mr. Prospect, I lost sleep last night I was so excited about meeting with you today. Thank you so much for the time.”

Arrive Bearing Gifts – To get the meeting, you may have offered them something of value – information on a comparable sale effecting their property’s value, etc. Be sure you have it. It is likely they aren’t meeting with you because of your reputation. Deliver this information in the context of a story. Stories are a great way to communicate the emotion of the deal. It will help you connect with the prospect.

Make the meeting about them – This is contrary to a salesperson’s natural inclination. Don’t drone on about your experience or your company. You should have researched the prospect. Try to quickly connect around some common ground. Did you go to rival colleges? Do you have children of similar ages? Ideally, you will be in their office. This gives you the opportunity to see pictures, awards, diplomas, etc. Pay attention to detail.

Ask Great Questions – Here is where you are trying to uncover motivations that could lead to a transaction. Better stated – you are trying to uncover opportunities to serve the prospect and build trust. Asking open-ended and insightful questions is how you will do it. Try to find area of frustration or pain. Ask them what keeps them up at night regarding their property. The answer could be about an opportunity they are excited about. It could also be about pain they are having. Ask them about frustrations they have had with previous broker relationships. The answers to these questions are gold. This is the information you will use to prepare your customized proposal to win their business later.

Ask for the next meeting – Now that you have conducted your needs-analysis meeting, ask for the next meeting. Explain that you will need a little more time for the next meeting to propose how they might achieve their highest interest (this is the same highest interest you learned in step 4). Once you leave with an appointment, it is now time to prepare for your proposal.

What are your thoughts about an initial needs-analysis meeting? What are some questions that you would ask? Please leave your comments below!

The Clarity Series is a series of posts all on one subject. This particular subject is prospecting. While the context is commercial real estate, these steps and principles can be applied to any sales. To read the introduction of this series, click here. To read an overview of the entire prospecting system, click here. Thank you for reading!

via iStockPhoto

I may have told this story before. About a year ago, I was riding with a couple of guys through rural Kentucky. As we drove through this one-stop-light town, we passed a Dollar General Store. Because I was clear on my specialty and had built my database, I was able to look up the owner. Before we were out of that small town, I was talking to the owner. What started off with, “Hi, sir. My name is Bo Barron and your Dollar Store in Perryville is not on fire,” ended with me in his office the next day. Cold calling works.

The subject of the cold call is a big one. I expect to break this up into at least three parts – the purpose of a cold call, the preparation of a cold call, and the anatomy of a cold call. In this post, I want to address the purpose of a cold call and my philosophy of a cold call. This first part will be a bit more philosophical. The next posts will get into how to practically pull off a cold call

The Purpose of a Cold Call

The purpose of a cold call is very simple and there is no debate. It is to get a meeting. That’s it. It is not to spend 20 minutes on the phone. It is not to build a lasting relationship. It is not to make the sale. The purpose of the cold call is simply to get a meeting.

I had a guy who worked for me for a time. Cold calling was not his favorite thing. When he would call, though, he would make a new best friend. These would be 30+ minute conversations. He would have two of these in a day and think he cold called for an hour. No! Cold calling is a numbers game. These calls should be short. The more calls you make, the more meetings you will have. The more meetings you have, the more proposals you will make…and on and on.

I want you to build lasting relationships with your clients and prospects. I want you to know about their kids and their dreams. It simply should not happen on a cold call.

My Philosophy of a Cold Call

I am going to give you the secret script to wealth and riches. Regardless of what you are selling, if you use this script, you are golden.

Wrong! I can’t tell you how many of my coaching clients have asked me for scripts. Scripts don’t win in sales. Connecting wins.

Many of you have probably read How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins. This book is full of great sales tactics, closing techniques, and scripts. I have read this book and use it as a resource. You should too. It is one of the best. However, it was written 33 years ago for the previous generation. It suggests that if you know the right words to say in any situation, you will always make the sale. I disagree.

Sales is not manipulation. Sales is about connecting and providing something of value that makes someone’s life better. A cold call is the first touch of that process. You need to have a plan for the call. You need to prepare for that call. You need to have great questions ready. You need to be ready to listen and adjust. You don’t need a script!

My next post will deal with preparing and the anatomy of the cold call. But before that, what are your thoughts about scripts? How do you try to connect with someone on your first call with them? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

And on the note of comments, this Clarity Series on Prospecting has been generating some great sharing of information and has led to conversations off-line. I encourage you all to keep leaving those comments and engaging with each other!

Clarity is an elusive gem. When you have it, you are a rock star. When you don’t…

Don’t I look smart? My wife thinks so!

A month ago I was playing guitar in the praise band at the church I attend. I’ve done this since I was in high school. For the first time, I noticed that I was having a difficult time making out the chord charts. This had never happened to me before. [And Peter, I’d love to jam with you sometime.]

I had a particularly hard time distinguishing between a B chord and a D chord. If you play any kind of instrument, you will understand that getting confused and playing the wrong chord in the middle of a song is bad. It gets noticed.

So, for the first time since high school, I had my eyes examined.

I had the puffs of air blown in my eyes (I just about fell backwards out of my chair – warn a guy!) I had a retinal scan. Then I had the experience where the doctor asks, “Which one is clearer…1 or 2.” At the end of the tweaking, he showed me what my vision was like. Then he showed me my vision with corrected lenses.

I was blown away! I had no idea how clear vision could be. Now, my sight is not that bad. I have a mild astigmatism. The glasses help when I read, and they help with the stuff far away. However, I am wearing them all the time. I love the clarity. Plus, my wife thinks I look smart!

Clarity is such a powerful thing. It allows you to act with direction and focus. It gives you the ability to maximize your efforts and your results. Clarity of purpose allows you to say ‘no’ to good things and ‘yes’ to great things.

I am introducing the Clarity Series. Let me explain what the Clarity Series is.

To this point, my posts have been random in nature. I write about Next Practices in Life, Business, and Commercial Real Estate. However, there has been no rhyme or reason to my posts. They are basically whatever hit me at the time.

The Clarity Series will be a series of posts on a specific topic. You will know where I am headed and what to expect

I am starting with the topic of Prospecting. I chose this topic because I believe it is the single most important factor that differentiates top producers from everyone else.

I’ve written about prospecting many times, but this will be an orderly and systematic approach.

The Clarity Series: Prospecting will have a beginning and an end. If this is well received and adds value, I will take on other topics. I am thinking that ‘creating presence’ would make a great next topic. Please use the comment section to suggest other topics.

I previously wrote a post about the 8 Steps to a Killer Prospecting System. This Clarity Series will break down each of those steps in much more depth. Please keep in mind that the context here is Commercial Real Estate. However, these steps are applicable to anyone with a product or service to sell. The 8 steps are as follows:

Now is your opportunity to share with me your thoughts. Would you add a step to this process? Are there specific questions you have with any of these steps? Share with me these questions in the comments section, and I will do my best to address them.